Nov 10, 2024  
2016-2017 Catalog 
    
2016-2017 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Mission Statement


Vision

UNC Asheville students, within a diverse and inclusive community, experience liberal arts education at its best.

Mission

UNC Asheville is distinctive in the UNC system as its designated liberal arts university. Our practice of the liberal arts emphasizes the centrality of learning and discovery through exemplary teaching, innovative scholarship, creative expression, co-curricular activities, undergraduate research, engaged service, and practical experience. UNC Asheville is primarily undergraduate, with all programs of study leading to the bachelor’s degree, with the exceptions of teacher licensure programs and the master’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences (MLAS). UNC Asheville offers a liberal arts education characterized by high quality faculty-student interaction. We offer this challenging educational experience to all promising students who are committed to liberal learning and personal growth.

Our liberal arts educational approach emphasizes life skills including critical thinking, clear and thoughtful expression, and honest open inquiry. Students undertake concentrated study in one area while simultaneously developing an understanding of the connections among disciplines. We encourage students to clarify, develop and live their own values while respecting the views and beliefs of others. In addition we cultivate an understanding of the dimensions of human diversity while recognizing the common humanity of all. We believe a quality liberal arts education enables our graduates to be lifelong learners and to lead successful, flourishing lives as leaders and contributors to their communities.

At UNC Asheville, we respond to the conditions and concerns of the contemporary world both as individuals and as a university. We incorporate economic, social and environmental sustainability into our institutional practices and curriculum. With a range of associated centers, partnerships, and initiatives, we fulfill our public responsibility to address the needs of our community through a continuum of learning. We develop a commitment to continuing service characterized by an informed, responsible, and creative engagement with the Asheville area, the southern Appalachian region, the state of North Carolina, and a diverse and increasingly connected world.

(Amended by the UNC Board of Governors February 21, 2014. Approved, as amended, by the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees March 27, 2014.)

Commitment to Equal Opportunity


The University of North Carolina at Asheville is committed to equality of educational experiences for students and is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. UNC  Asheville will not discriminate against students, applicants or employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation*, national origin, age, disability, political  affiliation or any other legally protected status with respect to all terms, conditions or privileges of university-sponsored activities, employment and the use of university facilities.

The university supports the federal laws protecting members of its community, including Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, Executive Order 11246, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended in 2008, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Sections 799A and 845 of the Public Health Service Act, N.C. General Statutes 126–16 and 126–17 and other applicable federal and state laws.

More information about the university’s commitment to Equal Opportunity may be obtained from the Affirmative Action Officer, Human Resources, 232 Phillips Hall, CPO #1450, University of North Carolina at Asheville, One University Heights, Asheville, NC 28804-8503.

*UNC Asheville acknowledges and understands that the category of sexual orientation is not a protected category under federal or state laws and therefore cannot be grieved beyond the campus level.